Sept. 11 hero fights for his job back

For years, Orlando customs Agent Jose Melendez-Perez was hailed as an American hero of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Now, after making what he contends was his first major mistake in 44 years of public service, Melendez-Perez is fighting to get his old job back. He faces a disciplinary hearing Tuesday in Orlando.

Melendez-Perez, 64, an immigration officer at Orlando International Airport, stopped the 20th terrorist hijacker from entering the United States in August 2001. He won national acclaim for grilling international passenger Mohamed al-Qahtani for 90 minutes and then denying him entry.

But six months ago, Melendez-Perez, who lives in east Orange County, drove a U.S. Customs and Border Protection van home for the weekend, violating agency policy. He locked his service weapon, an agency computer and other items inside. Someone broke into the van and stole the items, which were never recovered. The contents of the computer aren't known.

He has created a dilemma for the Department of Homeland Security about what to do when a hero later gets into trouble.

Melendez-Perez, reassigned to desk work in April, received word three weeks ago that he faces a two-week suspension without pay and a demotion — on top of his already having been removed from the Orlando Joint Terrorism Task Force. He is appealing the demotion Tuesday. He wants his old position back.

Melendez-Perez would not be interviewed while he is facing discipline. A Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman also would not comment.

But his friends and admirers, including a key member of the 9-11 commission and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Orlando, are coming to his defense.

Richard Ben-Veniste, a Washington lawyer who was on the 9-11 commission, said the commission determined that al-Qahtani was supposed to be the fifth hijacker on Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers overcame the four terrorists on the plane.

"If Flight 93 had a full complement five hijackers instead of the four who actually boarded the plane, they might have accomplished their mission and been able to hold off the courageous passengers on Flight 93,'' Ben-Veniste said in an interview.

Al-Qahtani later was captured in Afghanistan and is being held in Guantánamo.

Ben-Veniste said he is troubled by the potential breach of security caused when Melendez-Perez allowed the computer and gun to get stolen. "I don't minimize that this is a serious violation," he said.

Still, he said he urged Homeland Security officials to "take into account the great contribution that Mr. Melendez-Perez has made to our country."

So has Nelson, who in a Sept. 20 letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano Nelson declared, "Mr. Melendez-Perez is a true American hero."

Philadelphia Inquirer columnist and syndicated radio-talk-show host Michael Smerconish, who wrote a book, "Instinct," about Melendez-Perez's role in the 9-11 saga, has started a national petition drive to support him.

In a column last week, Smerconish suggests Melendez-Perez is the victim of "petty bureaucratic jealousy" stemming from all the attention he has received for his heroism.

There also is the prospect that the case was handled sternly because Homeland Security's inspector general issued a report in January, three months before the van break-in, that accused the agency of being too casual about gun management and thefts. Departmentwide, 289 guns were lost or stolen from 2006 through 2008, including 243 from customs and immigration officers.

In an affidavit sent to Nelson's office, Melendez-Perez said he took the van home April 16. He stated his personal car was in the shop, and as a task-force officer who was on call, he wanted to have a vehicle available.

"I have never been involved in any situation such as the present," he wrote in the affidavit. "I sincerely apologize for my lapse in judgment."

Luis De La Cruz, a lifelong friend and neighbor, said Melendez-Perez is ready to accept punishment, including suspension, but the demotion struck him as excessive.

In his column, Smerconish said he was invited to speak at a memorial on Sept. 11, 2009, at the Pennsylvania crash site. He asked Melendez-Perez to join him, but the customs agency would not send him. Days before the event, when Napolitano appeared on Smerconish's radio show, he appealed to her directly, he stated in his column. She then ordered the agency to let Melendez-Perez attend.

Napolitano's office would not comment.

Melendez-Perez told De La Cruz that after the theft he was immediately removed from the terrorism task force, relieved of authority to carry a weapon, stripped of security clearances and told to report to work each day at a customs office that offered him little work.

"I no longer had a job [description], and I was removed from all responsibilities," Melendez-Perez said in the affidavit.

Melendez-Perez spent 26 years in the Army, serving two tours in the Vietnam War. He spent the past 18 years in border protection, including time on the U.S.-Mexican border.

"This is a man of … phenomenal intuition, developed through years of training and experience, who wants to put it to good use, tracking down bad guys," De La Cruz said. "But because of one lapse in judgment he was stripped from a job he does well. All he wants is his job back."